Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 33

It is a fact that I bought a cup of coffee this morning, that it cost a certain amount of money and that the coffee beans used to make it were grown in Brazil. But in sociology we also want to know why things happen, and that means we have to construct theories which explain the bare facts. We know that many millions of people use the internet and social media to stay in touch with friends. But this is a very recent development which raises some questions. Why did internet use spread so rapidly? How did online social media come about and why do so many people get involved with them? Why are younger people more likely to use social media than older people? What impact are social media sites having on earlier forms of communication? To address questions such as these, we need to collect and assemble the evidence and engage in theorizing.

In this painting by Bruegel, random, often bizarre activities can be seen which collectively make little sense. The title – Netherlandish Proverbs – provides the key to interpreting the painting, which contains over a hundred proverbs that were common in the sixteenth century. For example, at the bottom left someone is ‘banging their head against a brick wall’, on which sits a man who is ‘armed to the teeth’. Evidence collected by sociologists can appear similarly random unless it is set within a general theory which guides our interpretation of the facts.

Theorizing means constructing abstract interpretations of events using a series of logically related statements that explain a wide variety of empirical or ‘factual’ situations. A theory about social media, for example, would be concerned with identifying how information and communications technology (ICT or just IT) has developed over time and what were the prerequisites for their success. In the best sociology, factual research and explanatory theories are closely related. We can only develop valid theoretical explanations if we can test them through empirical research; sociological theories should not be mere speculation. Contrary to popular belief, the facts do not speak for themselves; they need to be interpreted, and interpretation takes place within a set of underlying theoretical assumptions. Many sociologists work primarily on factual research projects, but unless they are guided by some knowledge of theory their work is unlikely to explain satisfactorily the complexity they find. This is true even of research carried out with strictly practical objectives.

Many people see themselves as essentially practical, ‘down to earth’ folks and are suspicious of theorists and theories which appear far removed from their daily life. Yet all practical decisions make some theoretical assumptions. The manager of a business may have no regard for ‘theory’, but she might also believe that her employees are motivated by monetary reward and that the promise of this leads them to work hard. This is a simple underlying theoretical interpretation of human behaviour which the manager takes for granted without realizing or acknowledging it. An alternative view is that most people work in order to make a decent life for their families and monetary reward is merely a means to that less individualistic end. Once we begin to look for satisfactory interpretations of human actions we have to become interested in theories.

Without some kind of theoretical approach, we do not even know what to look for when beginning a study or when interpreting our results at the end of the research process. Theoretical thinking must also tackle general problems of how social life can and should be studied in the first place. Should sociological methods be modelled on the natural sciences? How should we think of human consciousness, social action and social institutions? How can sociologists avoid introducing personal bias into their research? Should they even try? There are no easy answers to such questions, which have been answered in different ways since the emergence of sociology in the nineteenth century.